Vermont’s Macaulay Lerman combines a weepy violin, the sonic sense of a barn, a pinch of Leonard Cohen low, creaky voice into the warm and rough-hewn, “Wrong.” Sounds like Cassadaga Bright Eyes, Heart of Gold Neil Young, and other ambivalent inheritors of country music. The lyrics are both straightforward and poetic give the song a meditative, non-circular … Continued

Steve Marion is the rare guitar god who tours and generally exists in the biosphere of “indie rock,” a genre built at least partially on a disdain for mastering your instrument. Steve has mastered his instrument, and his pedal board. But he still writes pop songs. His guitar parts have the phrasing of vocal hooks, … Continued

New York CIty’s Carlos Hernandez dwells joyously in the crater Thundercat blew into pop music. “Crush” is sweet and rhythmically uplifting, with a wise use of space. The beats are remarkable for their elastic idiosyncracies. The lead guitar fluctuates between petulance and beachy fluency. You might get into this if you listen mostly to jazz or mostly to funk. But normier listeners can connect with it too. I mean everyone’s had a crush.